Steve James is the Sunday Telegraph's cricket columnist. He also writes on rugby. He played cricket for Glamorgan and England but is just as proud to have represented Lydney and Gloucestershire at rugby.

In praise of 50-over cricket. And Andrew Strauss. And Kevin Pietersen. Again!

Got some catching up to do here, I’m afraid. Apologies for such a long blogging absence but holidays and other work commitments have interfered. There has been rather a lot going on in the cricket world too! So some random thoughts:

1. Spot fixing? Sadly no surprise. The rumours have strengthened in recent years. Without wishing to boast I uncovered the Essex story about Danish Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield. Kaneria has now been cleared; Westfield has to report to police this week.
2. The tour had to go on. Calls for its cancellation were wide of the mark. It’s not just the financial implications: it would be giving in to these people.
3. The second T20 at Cardiff was deeply depressing, but such a pathetic crowd was not all about the fixing allegations. It was simply a poor decision to stage two such matches in the same city inside three days. We move on. It was a bad night, but not necessarily the signal for future calamitous crowds.
4. Kevin Pietersen should not have been dropped. I do not understand what good time in the middle in county cricket in September is for a series at the end of November. And he hasn’t got that anyway. He made 0 & 1 against Glamorgan at the Oval when the visitors made the circumstances as far removed from Test cricket as they could- in other words medium-pacers bowling with the keeper up, and with ring fields. As I write, though, at least he is 26 not out at Bristol.
5. Andrew Strauss is now rather decent at one-day cricket. Anyone watching the Sky lunchtime coverage on Sunday will know what I mean. A group of pundits who shall remain nameless did not pick him for the World Cup. The whole selection was an utter shambles.
6. Jonathan Trott is a very good batsman, who knows how to pace an innings, but he needs to be careful. His innings at Leeds put a lot of pressure on Strauss to play the bigger shots, and England were always just below the asking rate. That is always a dangerous policy, even with a batting powerplay to take. You cannot always rely on that.
7. Batting powerplays are a wonderful innovation. Shame nobody has worked out how to use them yet.
8. On that point, isn’t 50-over cricket good? So much better than Twenty20. Sorry to sound so old-fashioned, but it’s proper cricket. The Leeds match was wonderful.
9. Floodlit cricket in September should be banned. Please see my Sunday Telegraph column. I actually made an omission there- I didn’t realise the Oval ODI is to be floodlit too. As for the Clydesdale Bank40 final being under lights, well..
10. Player behaviour definitely is deteriorating. Last Saturday’s semi-final between Somerset and Essex was spicy, but at times things went too far. There was one gesture by a departing batsman at Craig Kieswetter that should not be seen on a cricket field. Although I hear it was used when a player completed a championship century recently.
Your thoughts please…